The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday granted an emergency use authorization to an at-home COVID-19 test made by German company Siemens Healthineers.
The highly contagious Delta and Omicron coronavirus variants are causing a surge in new cases across the United States, and several retailers, including CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart are limiting the number of at-home testing kits customers can purchase. The Siemens tests are expected to become available in January, and the company said its product can be used by children 2 and up as long as an adult collects the sample.
The Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday the Biden administration wants to get tens of millions of new tests into the U.S. every month, with the goal of distributing them for free to U.S. households.